Old crappy placenta

The good news is that Ella looks great on ultrasound. She's a little smaller than average, but nothing to worry about. She weighed about four pounds, 11 ounces, which is normal, but she's just short. I'm not worried about that at all, because Tessa was and still is short. In fact, she's the shortest kid in her class.

The bad news is that I might be developing pre-eclampsia, and even if I'm not, my placenta is breaking down, deteriorating and just plain isn't working like it should. The ultrasound today showed that my fluid is low, which indicates the placenta isn't working, and also that the blood flow through the umbilical cord is being constricted.

She asked me if I had had any swelling or headaches in the last few weeks, and I had. I never thought much about it, because I chalked it up to sinuses, the time of the year, the stress with Tessa's school problems, etc. They always went away with Tylenol, and I had been told that if they didn't go away after taking the meds, I needed to call then. I had a headache this morning, so instead of sending me home on bedrest, the doctor sent me to the hospital for monitoring. I also have to collect my urine for 24 hours to take back to them to check for proteins.

The room they put me in was very much like the one I was in when Jenna was delivered, but I am so thankful it wasn't the same one. I had a great nurse, too. She hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor, which was too funny because Ella got the hiccups for like 10 minutes one time. Brian asked if she was karate chopping the monitor, and two seconds later, the nurse came in and said, "Looks like someone has the hiccups." It was really funny.

My blood pressure got up to 130/91 at the hospital, but they have sent me home on bedrest because my blood work looked good. I have to take my urine back in tomorrow, and I have another ultrasound scheduled for next Monday. I'm not sure what happens if my urine shows protein or if the fluid is still low. I'm going to ask tomorrow when I turn the urine in to them.

I asked the nurse what could be causing the placenta to break down if it wasn't pre-eclampsia. She said they don't really know what causes it. She said she tells nursing students that it's called OCP or Old Crappy Placenta. Placentas designed to last nine months, but some only last eight. Brian said it's kind of like a diesel motor. They are designed to last 300,000, but sometimes, they blow up at 200,000. She said that was a good analogy.

I have a feeling that Ella will be here sooner rather than later. I told I think she'll probably be here in two weeks instead of the four to five that would go to my due date. She's going to be a little bitty baby just like Tessa was. I'm going to have to get Brian or my mom or someone to go and buy some preemie sizes along with some preemie diapers. When Tessa was born, she didn't have any clothes because she was so small. The truth is, even though I got a lot of nice stuff at my shower, I still need a bouncy seat, a swing and the bedding set, even though I do have that one picked out, just not ordered yet, so I still have quite a bit I need to buy.

Honestly, we have quite a bit of stuff to do to get ready. We have to rent a steam cleaner for the carpet in her room and paint the walls. I feel so bad for Brian because he's going to have to do it all himself.